Suggestions for Sailing Knife

C

Cussdem 383

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Oct 2, 2012
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Wanting to buy a knife to carry while sailing, on the off chance my crew and myself capsize and one of us is entangled in the lines. I would guess I'm looking for a half serrated half plain blade around 3-4". I'm a Florida student in college, so it must follow FL law. I am probably looking around the $60-70 max. Something that never fails, good quality, and probably not steel lined so it doesn't prematurely rust. Idk if an EDC can meet these needs, if it could be an EDC thats a plus, but its mostly for safety on the water. I've looked at two knives at my local Bass Pro just to get a baseline: benchmark mini griptilian and a Gerber Remix.

Impressions:
Saw the quality in the benchmark, no play at all. $200 there, but have found them cheaper online. Model 556?

The Gerber was packaged so I couldn't handle it. Thought the large hole would be ideal for a cutting in a dangerous situation. Reading reviews online though it seems that Gerber's quality was diminished as some people have problems with it opening, locking, and overall reliability. $40, but cheaper online of course.

Open to suggestions and thoughts on these as well

Thank You
 
A mora in stainless. If it falls overboard it's only $10 lost. A fixed blade is better than a folder in tense situations.
 
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Spyderco salt in the H-1 Steel its exactly what your looking for. "H-1 is non-rusting premium-performance steel that's raising interest in fishing, boating and diving circles." They run about 65$ from BladeHQ
 
A stainless Mora was suggested and that's what I store in a cockpit bag, easy for anyone in the crew to grab.
For personal use on deck or in an emergency, a Leatherman Charge is always on my belt.

View attachment 304859

My boat


Regards

Mikael
 
Yeah, you definitely want something from the Spyderco Salt line. A sheepsfoot blade would probably be best as a "safety knife," but a regular leaf-shape blade could double as a great EDC. They don't come in half serrated versions, though; it's either full serrations, or full plain edge. Probably better.

BTW: It's Benchmade, not Benchmark. Benchmark is a knife company, too, but they're totally different fro Benchmade.
 
Do you need it to have a non-stabbing blade such as a sheets foot? On some crews that is a requirement.

Camillus makes a nice marlin spike knife. It's not one hand opening but it is a sailors knife. I think it's about $30 on amazon.
 
I have read the original post a couple of times, and I'm still a little unsure what you're going to do with this knife. If you truly need a "nautical" tool for regular sailing tasks, that's one thing. If you just want a blade at hand in the very rare instance that you or a mate may go over the side and become tangled in rigging, you don't need to spend more than $10-20 for that and just tie a cord from the knife lanyard hole/bail to your belt loop (so you don't lose it) and only carry it when you are working on the boat. It can be fixed in a small sheath in your back pocket or some type of assisted opener.

Spend the money you're saving by doing that on a nice carrying knife you would be proud to have in your pocket onshore. Don't let that danger/survival "possibility" bias your reasonings for spending a lot of dough. Now, if you're going to be scuba diving a lot, belay my last. That raises the stakes considerably.
 
Mora is a good option but it is not good for heavy duty aboard...Think about a knife Esse, because they have coverage (in case of rusty) and are very robust.
 
Saymon said:
Mora is a good option but it is not good for heavy duty aboard...Think about a knife Esse, because they have coverage (in case of rusty) and are very robust.
Click to expand...

ESEE's warranty does NOT cover rust, and rust is exactly what you'll get with 1095 and salt water. You don't need anything sturdier than a mora to slice rope. Plus, accidentally dropping a $100 ESEE overboard vs a $10 mora....yeah I'd rather have the mora.
 
Saymon said:
Mora is a good option but it is not good for heavy duty aboard...Think about a knife Esse, because they have coverage (in case of rusty) and are very robust.
Click to expand...

To my experience onboard many sailingboats and a Navy ship, a Mora has always been strong enough for any situation at sea or in port.
For the fun of it I sometimes carried a Bowie, but it was mostly in the way of things.


Regards

Mikael
 
If you like the benchmade griptilian there is also the Benchmade 551H2o griptilian which has an even more rust resistant stainless than the regular griptilians, a french steel called X15tn, which will hold its edge longer than the H1 steel in the Spyderco line of knives (which are great as well) although the trade off is the steel is extremely rust resistant, not rust proof like H1. The griptillian also has stainless liners, while the Spyderco salt series doesn't have liners at all and the clips are coated titanium. My next ocean knife will probably be the Serrated Pacific salt, (serrated H1 will hold its edge much better than Plain edge H1, and about the same to very slightly more than X15tn). I also had a Spyderco Salt 1 (the smaller 3in blade model) that if you get one of those foam key floation keychains to put on to it will float if it falls into the water. (my salt 1 was bright yellow as was the keychain float so it was easy to see)
 
check out the myerchin site. I did and just bought a TF377 (Didn't think they were available yet) They used to be the gold standard for sailing knives back when I sailed offshore. Hopefully they still are. Don't forget the dummy cord (aka lanyard)

Probably can find some reviews online or on a sailing forum.
 
Mora stainless for a low cost fixed blade, Boye Dendritic folder w/marlinspike if you don't mind spending a little extra for something designed with salt water in mind.
 
Myerchin Offshore System Fixed Blade Knife: bought this for my Mom when she started sailing. Comes with a separate marlin spike too.
 
Any spyderco in H1. Wouldn't rust, so you wouldn't have to worry. I'd get 100% serrations since H1 has a ridiculously high RC with serrations, around 68, I believe. Without serrations, it's somewhere closer to 58 RC. All serrated, maybe a tasman, or a pacific salt.
 
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